Roses, Always Roses
by Kanna-Ophelia
Summary: Jesse receives a Valentine's Day card - possibly from the wrong person. Compromise is such a bittersweet pleasure. *complete*


My 30th fic uploaded! I can't believe it…

Rating: M15+-ish. A little language, light sexual content.

Warnings: Femmeslash, but not explicitly so. A little unrequited het stuff.  
Team Rocket and Pikachu belong to Nintendo and I think,  4Kids. I've just bought enough stuffed Pikachus to start a Pichu farm.

**_+++++Roses, Always Roses++++++_**

"Happy Valentine's Day!"

I stand at the semi-secret mail pickup, which only an Officer Jenny wouldn't see for what it was – it has a gigantic red R printed on it, for the sake of all that's evil – and stare at the piece of cardboard as if it's going to electrocute me. No, wait, it's not yellow…

It's pink, of all colours. Glittery. Hearts frame a cleffa holding a bunch of roses, and there's something suspiciously like perfume on the envelope. For a moment I think it must be from_ him… Roses are his trademark, after all.  _

I used to love roses. They were like romance itself, so soft to the touch that I would feel tingles down my spine, their scent as luscious as their beauty.  I never would have thought it was possible to get sick of roses.

Of course, that was before I spent years in the company of a boy who carries around roses and flourishes them at the slightest opportunity. He treats those flowers as if they were some magical defence against the violence and failure of our everyday life. Roses, always roses.

Unrequited love is such a bore.

I tell myself firmly it's not from him, even as my heart hurts instead of beating. But you know, Valentine's Day is the kind of thing he would go for. He's the kind of boy who swoons over fluffy teddy bears and red satin hearts, who loves pink and glitter and, of course, always roses.

In other words, he's not the kind of boy who sends a_ girl a Valentine's Day card. Not without a cute disclaimer, "To My Best Friend," anyway._

If he ever sends me one of those, I'm feeding him to the Boss' Persian. In small pieces. 

It's not my fault I can't face up to reality. If I could, I would have given up on Tea Rocket and that sadistic Pikachu years ago, and maybe I'd be settling down to a real bed tonight, instead of a bunk in another freezing cabin "hideaway."

_Stop procrastinating, girl. Open it, already._

I could tell myself it's his handwriting, of course, but I know his as well as my own. As well as I know yours.

No message other than the printed greeting on the front. After all, it must have cost you bitterly enough to send something as girlie as this card – personal sentiment is too much to ask on top of that gesture.  There's nothing but a place, and a time.

I'm not going to go.

_Fuck._

Of course, that's probably the idea…

***  *   *  ***

You laughed triumphantly when you saw me, those violet eyes glinting, but at least you had the grace not to say anything, or I would have had to throw a tantrum and leave… And I wouldn't be in your arms now, licking the fragrant valley between your breasts, fingers buried deep in you, drowning myself in the soft femininity of you.  Familiar, addictive… not him.

I always come back to you, don't I, my dear? The only difference is that I don't stay anymore. I go back to him and… the pleasures of chaste friendship.

As my caress falters, you grasp me by the hair, haul my face up and bring it close to yours.  Angry suddenly, my finger work harder and deeper.

Arrogant bitch… You're still smiling, brittle and nasty, into my face, even as you shake with orgasm. Do you realise that your eyes are almost exactly like his, only purple rather than green? But his eyes are never hard, like this, triumphant like this…

Or glazed with lust when they look at me, like this. Maybe I should take what I can get.

I let my fingers slip from you.  "Happy Valentine's Day, Cassidy. Thanks for the card."

You take my hand and suck, almost meditatively. It's all wrong that your mouth still feels so sweet. Your teeth scrape my skin and your tongue strokes my palm, wet and faintly rough, like that of an umbreon.  Funny that you, of all people, should make me think of a happiness evolution pokémon… I don't think you're even as happy as I am, especially since Domino stole your place as the Boss' little pet.  But you make me think of an umbreon, despite your flaxen hair – sinuous and sleek in those black uniforms you wear, your soul just as dark as the umbreon's class.

You and I, Cassidy, are both Dark types. But James is of the sunshine, and not for me.

"Anytime, Jesse. I know what a romantic you are."  You pull me close, almost as if we were really lovers, instead of enemies who occasionally fuck each other. "Next year," you add thoughtfully, "I'll send you a dozen roses."

**+++finis+++**


End file.
